It is necessary to build a special mechanism for the development of the midland and mountainous regions of the North.

On December 18, in Hoa Binh , Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc, Chairman of the Council, chaired the 4th Conference of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region Coordination Council.

Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc requested that provinces in the region must resolutely accelerate, make breakthroughs, and create a large-scale economy - Photo: VGP/Tran Manh

Speaking at the conference, the Deputy Prime Minister summarized and commended the results the region has achieved in 2024, especially the GRDP of the whole region is expected to be the highest in the country; the economic structure has positively transformed, the business environment has improved;...

The Deputy Prime Minister also pointed out the remaining problems in the region and emphasized that "we are the carriages in the national train that is accelerating towards happiness, prosperity and well-being". Therefore, it is necessary to clearly recognize the achievements, as well as the limitations, difficulties, obstacles and solutions to help the midland and mountainous regions of the North continue to develop rapidly and sustainably in the era of national development.

At the conference, leaders of the Ministry of Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Son La, Lao Cai provinces expressed their high agreement with the central report of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, affirming that despite the great difficulties, with the deep attention of the Central Government and the efforts of the provinces, the results achieved in socio-economic development of the region in 2024 are very encouraging, the region has never achieved "spectacular" results like last year.

The 4th Conference of the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region Coordination Council - Photo: VGP/Tran Manh

However, the midland and mountainous areas in the North are still the "lowest" region in terms of economy, culture, society... of the whole country. Many problems (hunger eradication and poverty reduction, security, crime prevention, natural disaster response, health, education...) have existed and will continue to exist for a long time and cannot be easily solved in a day or two.

Analyzing the development potential of the region, emphasizing the relationship between "development and stability", leaders of ministries, branches and localities proposed and recommended a number of contents related to: Deploying transport infrastructure projects, connecting the region's traffic with Northern Laos, Southern China, reaching Northern Thailand and Myanmar; connecting traffic with the Red River Delta and the capital Hanoi; implementing the national target program on new rural construction; developing forestry economy; both developing and preserving forests "to preserve the lungs and water resources for the North" and taking care of people's livelihoods; developing medicinal herbs and specialty agricultural products; developing wind power and solar power; developing healthcare and education in mountainous and ethnic minority areas; promoting internal administrative procedure reform; decentralizing and delegating power to localities in project implementation; raising the loan ceiling; supporting localities in the region to promote digital transformation; developing tourism economy and carbon credit market; inventory of agricultural and forestry land; deploy smart border gates; promote connectivity, economic, trade and tourism cooperation across the border between provinces in the region and border localities of China;...

Hoa Binh Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Phi Long expressed his hope that the Central Government will soon have stronger mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles for the provinces in the region. Photo: VGP/Tran Manh

At the conference, opinions also recommended that competent authorities consider and develop and submit to the National Assembly a special mechanism for the most disadvantaged regions in the country to have conditions to rise up.

Secretary of the Hoa Binh Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Phi Long expressed his hope that the Central Government would soon have stronger mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and obstacles for the provinces in the region, specifically: Special mechanism on public-private partnership PPP; special mechanism on carbon credit market; increase the budget for forest protection; have a strategy for tourism development for ethnic minority people; need to adjust to have a reasonable price mechanism for hydropower so that the provinces have more budget sources to serve the people in the reservoir area; increase the loan ratio to help the provinces have more resources to invest in developing key infrastructure projects, etc.

Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh discussed and answered recommendations from localities - Photo: VGP/Tran Manh

At the conference, Minister of Transport Tran Hong Minh, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, discussed and answered recommendations from localities related to investment in a number of highway, road, road bridge, and airport projects in the area; decentralization and delegation of authority related to PPP projects, public investment, and budget use; specific mechanisms and policies for the region; and resource support;...

Concluding the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc highly appreciated the Ministry of Planning and Investment, ministries, branches and localities in the region, especially Hoa Binh province, for their close coordination and careful preparation for the 4th Conference of the Coordination Council of the Northern Midlands and Mountains region.

The northern midland and mountainous region has 14 provinces, which is a particularly important strategic area in terms of ethnicity, national defense, and security, and shares borders with China and Laos. Despite the unfavorable international and domestic context, especially the damage caused by flooding after the recent storm No. 3, the socio-economic situation in the northern midland and mountainous region has still recovered positively, achieving many positive results as reported by the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized a number of important indicators such as: The region's GRDP growth in 2024 is estimated at 9.11%, higher than the national average (6.8% - 7%) and is the highest in the country. In which, some localities have quite high growth rates such as: Bac Giang (the highest in the country with a growth rate of 13.85%), Phu Tho (9.53%), Tuyen Quang (9.04%).

Dien Bien Provincial Party Secretary Tran Quoc Cuong speaks at the conference - Photo: VGP/Tran Manh

The total state budget revenue in the region in 2024 is about 89,243 trillion VND (up 13% compared to the estimate assigned by the Central Government), contributing to the whole country exceeding the budget revenue by about 300 trillion VND... this is a record number. In addition, export turnover (by the end of November 2024) reached over 72 billion USD.

The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out the difficulties of the region such as: The number of communes meeting national new rural standards in the whole region is 1,043 communes, reaching a rate of about 51.8%, the lowest compared to other regions in the country (the national average is about 78%); the multidimensional poverty rate of the region has decreased quite a bit but is still at the highest level in the country at 15.1% (in which the poverty and near-poverty rate of ethnic minorities is still high, at 29.6%); the total number of multidimensional poor and near-poor households is 480 thousand households.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that these are the targets that the whole region must focus on directing and implementing remedial measures so that all people can enjoy the fruits of the common development of the whole country.

Regarding tasks and solutions, first of all, the provinces must change their thinking. Only with new thinking can we have new ways of doing things to promote growth, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Central Government is actively amending institutions and perfecting the legal system to remove obstacles; resolutely arranging, innovating, streamlining the apparatus and reducing staff so that 2025 will truly be a year of acceleration, breakthrough, entering a new era, an era of growth.

In the coming time, the country must develop rapidly and comprehensively, in the period of digital transformation, digital economy, green economy, etc. Therefore, the provinces in the region must clearly identify the difficulties, obstacles, and potential of the region to have solutions to overcome and implement effectively.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the potentials of tourism, minerals, medicinal herbs,... especially the strategic location of the region that need to be focused on development.

Accordingly, to awaken the potential, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the provinces in the region must drastically accelerate, break through, create a high economic scale; concentrate on developing key projects of the province, region and inter-region in the fastest and most effective way. In particular, it is necessary to promote the application of modern technology in transport development. The Central Government will provide maximum support for the region to develop key projects.

Deputy Prime Minister suggests provinces promote the development of other industrial parks associated with calling for strategic investors and building key raw material areas - Photo: VGP/Tran Manh

The Deputy Prime Minister requested ministries and branches, according to their assigned functions and tasks, to soon complete carbon market mechanisms.

Besides, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that provinces promote the development of other industrial parks associated with calling for strategic investors and building key raw material areas.

At the same time, deploy synchronous and effective solutions to develop the business team, boost production and business; focus on developing household and cooperative economies, associated with developing production and product consumption linkage models to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty. "Each effective linkage model is like a star. A picture with many shining stars will create a beautiful picture," the Deputy Prime Minister expressed.

The Deputy Prime Minister also asked the provinces in the region to pay attention to preserving and promoting the values ​​of ethnic identities; deploy warning solutions and "active defense" to respond to landslides and floods.

The Deputy Prime Minister also agreed with the provinces' proposal that there should be specific policies on decentralization, delegation of power, and increased resources for "lowland" areas to rise up. He assigned Hoa Binh province to preside over and coordinate with localities in the region to research, develop projects, and propose a council of specific mechanisms for the region to submit to competent authorities for consideration and decision.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/can-xay-dung-co-che-dac-thu-de-vung-trung-du-va-mien-nui-bac-bo-phat-trien-384703.html